Teen sensation Gauff outlasts Ostapenko for Linz glory
Jelena Ostapenko forced Coco Gauff into a deciding set but could not stop the brilliant 15-year-old from claiming Linz Open glory.
Coco Gauff claimed the first WTA Tour title of her career with a thrilling 6-3 1-6 6-2 victory over Jelena Ostapenko in the final of the Linz Open.
The 15-year-old American sensation was the youngest WTA finalist since Nicole Vaidisova won the Tashkent Open in 2004 and showed plenty of the form that saw her spring to grand slam prominence this year to take the first set.
Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, rallied impressively both to level matters and delay a victory that marks the latest staging post in Gauff’s rapid rise.
Gauff, who stunned world number eight Kiki Bertens in the quarter-finals, was forced to save a pair of break points in the first game but immediately got stuck in to the Ostapenko serve, opening up a 3-0 lead.
Playing her first final of 2019, Ostapenko settled well enough thereafter but Gauff looked imperious, shrugging off a double fault at the start of the ninth game to take the set.
The opening set of the @WTALinz final belongs to @CocoGauff!
The takes a 6-3 lead over Ostapenko. pic.twitter.com/tsrOuL7AxW
— WTA (@WTA) October 13, 2019
Ostapenko finally got a look at her opponent’s serve in set two as they exchanged breaks early on, before the weight of what she seemed set to accomplish appeared to hinder Gauff.
It meant the second went 6-1 to the world number 72 but the pedigree Gauff displayed en route to round four at Wimbledon and round three in the US Open came emphatically to the fore in the decider.
After dropping serve for 2-0, Ostapenko got involved in an animated exchange with the umpire, repeatedly asking the official, “Can you see the ball?”
@CocoGauff is your @WTALinz champion!
The 15-year-old defeats Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to claim her first WTA title! pic.twitter.com/i8ArqH6RnG
— WTA (@WTA) October 13, 2019
At the next change of ends, newly appointed coach Marion Bartoli sought to settle her charge but Gauff was on a roll, and Ostapenko was forced to gamely repel a pair of match points at 5-0.
Those near misses knocked the teenager, who plopped a forehand into the net to be broken to love in the next game.
She regrouped superbly, however, as both players tore into each other with all-or-nothing groundstrokes. One of those from Ostapenko was shown to be long on a challenge and Gauff let out a scream of delight, embracing a landmark triumph.
